Sheet piling mechanism



Dec- 7, 1937. A. BROADMEYER SHEET FILING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 11, 193444 sheets-sheet 1 mm, nm,

Dec. 7, 1937.

A. BROADMEYER SHEET FILING MECHANISM Filed Jan. ll, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet2 DeC- 7, 1937. A. BROADMEYER SHEET FILING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed Jan. ll, 1934 ill :Il W

l Il QM d gl wc wor Albe/'t liroadmeyel;

Dec. 7, 1937. A. BROADMEYER SHEET FILING MECHANISM Filed Jan. ll, 1934 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Dee?, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

SHEET PILING MECHANISM Application January 11, 1934, serial No. 706,286

Claims.

In the piling of paper sheets that are delivered successively to alayboy or other receiver, the

speed of delivery has been greatly limited because of the tendency ofthesheets to rebound when 5 travelling atta high speed and striking thegate or stop wall of the receiver, the striking edge or the advancecorners of the sheet moreover tending to bend and thus become foldedeither upwardly or downwardly, causing them not only to be thus madedefective, but also constituting catches for the sheets above or belowand preventing the sheets being jogged to form a smooth even pile.

It has usually been the custom to curl the side margins of the sheet in'order that they may be in a. measure stiiened as they are projected fromthe delivery means over the accumulating pile,

but even this structure has its limitations. It

is usually the practiceI to employ overlying Wires under which thesheets are projected, but these involve difficulties, in that variationsin their arrangement is required according to the speed of delivery witha consequent necessity of trial and corresponding delays.

'I'he primary object of the present invention is to provide pilingmechanism including a means which will so prepare the sheets that theywill temporarily retain their rigidity While being projected, and evenafter they fall upon the pile,

30 they will not pack so quickly, but will have a certain amount of airbeneath them which will cause them to substantially iioat, thus insuringtheir easy lateral movement under the jogging action in the layboy andtheir being eventually flattened as the overlying weight of sheetsaccumulates. As a consequence it has been demonstrated that the speed ofdelivery can be greatly augmented and it can be varied easily within arange of from one sheet per minute to two hundred and ity sheets perminute. Furthermore the adjustment of delivery tapes and wires is nolonger necessary inasmuch as the mechanism will operate successfully onsheets of varying sizes. I

In the accompanying drawings there is illustrated a structure which isat present considered the Apreferable embodiment of the invention.Thereim- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a layboy and the m means fordelivering sheets successively thereto.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same. f

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view on the line 3-3 ofFigure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail rear elevation of the sheet 55 corrugating means. i

Figure 6 is a vertical cross sectional View I through the layboy,indicating the general arrangement of the sheets as they are piledtherein.

Figure 7 is a detail sectional view through one of the corrugatingrollers.

Figure 8 is a detail sectional view showing the approximate relation ofthe conveyor tapes when no sheets are therein.

It will be understood that the sheets may be primarily treated in anydesired manner. That is to say they may be cut from a roll and deliveredto the layboy or they may be ruled, printed, or otherwise operated upon.From the mechanism that thus acts upon them, they are delivered by asuitable conveyor, the delivery portion of which is shown in theaccompanying drawings in the form of a belt 9, the upper stretch ofwhich carries said sheet and on which said `sheets may be held by anoverlying means, as the tapes or cords I0. This delivery end 9-I0 of theconveyor is shown as mounted on the front end of a suitable frame II,the rear portion of which carries a layboy I2, and interposed betweenthe layboy and the conveyor 9-I0 are means I3 for transferring the sheetfrom the conveyor to said layboy.

'Ihe layboy includes a slatted bottom I4, a front wall I5, side-walls i6and a rear gate I'I. 'I'he front wall .I5 is mounted to reciprocatetoward and from the gate Il and to this end it is carried by brackets I8adjustably mounted on reciprocating rods I9. These rods have straps 20that surround eccentrics 2| mounted on a cross shaft 22. The cross shaftas'shown in Figure 2 is geared at 23 to a side shaft 24 carryingoppowhich are operated by correspondingly arranged` Y eccentrics 25.Therefore the side walls will move toward and from each other when theshaft 24 1 is rotated.

'Ihe gate Il is mounted to reciprocate vertically on a pair of guideposts 28, and preferably consists of spaced slats 29 mounted at theirlower ends in a-cross bar 30, and consequently providing vertical slots3|. A treadle 32 is secured to a rock shaft 33 journaled in the lowerrear corner of the frame, and said treadle extends rearwardly of saidframe. This treadle is elevated by a coiled'spring 34 having a bearing35 on a rearwardly extending arm 36 xed to the rock shaft 33. Extensible'links 31, connected to the side arms 38 of the treadle, are in turnconnected at their upper ends to rocker arms 39 journaled on brackets 40that are located at the lower ends of the posts 28. The inner ends ofthe rocker arms are provided with gear segments 4i which engage verticalracks 42 secured to the end portions of the gate. 'I'hus it will beevident that by pressing downwardly on the treadle 32, the gate can beelevated and the pile of sheets removed from the layboy beneath thesame.

Considering now the mechanism I3 for projecting the sheets into thelayboy, an upper roller 43 and a lower roller 44 are located adjacent tothe delivery end of the conveyor 9--I0. Just in front of the path ofmovement of the wall I5 of the layboy is journaled a shaft 45 on whichare adjustably ,mounted spaced pulleys 46, the hubs 41 of the rollersbeing contractile, so that they can be gripped upon the shaft. Aroundthe lower roller 44 and the respective pulleys 56 pass a lower set ofendless tapes 48.

Extending across the frame above these tapes is a rod 49 on which arepivotally mounted supporting arms 50, the hubs 511a of said armssurrounding the rod 49, being adapted to be gripped to the rod. In otherwords, said hubs are bifurcated and clamping bolts 5!)b are employed tocontract them upon the rod, so as to hold the arms 50 at any desiredelevation. Journaled in the rear free ends of said arms is a shaft 5| towhich are adjustably lxed upper pulleys 52 arranged in a line above theline of lower pulleysl 46, but as will be clear by reference' to Figure4, alternating with said pulleys 46. The hubs 53 of the pulleys 52 arealso contractile so that they can be gripped to the shaft 5| and beeilectively secured against relative movement thereon.

Around the upper roller 43 and the respective pulleys 52 pass an upperset of endless tapes 54. The rock shaft 49 is normally xed by screws52EL that bear against opposite sides of an arm 52b iixed to one end ofthe rock shaft 49. By adjusting these screws the rock shaft can beturned and the upper pulleys 52 thereby raised and lowered and obviouslyfixed in any desired relation.

It will be evident that sheets delivered by the conveyor 9-10 will passbetween the upper stretches of the tapes 48 and the lower stretches ofthe tapes 54, the entrance throat between them being slightly open (seeFig. 8) to permit their ready entry. As will be clear, however, byreference to Figures 3 and 4, the upper rollers 52 and the lower rollers46 lap. Consequently as the sheets pass between these rollers they willbe corrugated. To avoid sharp edges the rollers have transverselyrounded peripheries as illustrated in Figure 7.

In order that the active stretches of the tapes 48 and 54 will properlyfunction, a tension roller 55, carried by adjustable arms 56 bears uponthe lower stretches of the upper tapes 54, and a correspondingly mountedtension roller 51 is adjusted to press upwardly upon the upper stretchesof the lower tapes 48, thus bringing the tapes in almost alinedrelation, just in rear of the aforesaid entrance throat.

For the purpose of driving the mechanism, a sprocket chain 58, drivenfrom any suitable part of the initial mechanism that operates on thepaper sheets, drives a sprocket wheel 59, to which is connected a gear60 joumaled on the rear side of the frame. This gear 68 is in mesh witha gear 6l that is xed to the shaft l2 of the roll 44. On the inside ofthe frame this roll 44 carries a sprocket wheel 63, around which passesan endless sprocket chain 64. The sprocket chain 64 is engaged with asprocket wheel 6P on the shaft 22 of the jogging mechanism, and alsopasses around a sprocket wheel 66 on the lower shaft 45, carrying thelower pulleys 46. A suitable idler 61 is preferably engaged with thissprocket chain. It will thus be evident that all the mechanism, in-

cluding the jogging means, constitutes in effect a unit, the parts ofwhich are co-operatively connected and driven.

The operation of the mechanism is substantially as follows. 'Ihe sheetssuccessively delivered by the conveyor 9-l0 enter between the adjacentstretches of the tapes 48 and 54 and are thereby carried toward thelayboy I2. As they pass between the sets of pulleys 46 and 52, they aretemporarily corrugated as will be evident by reference to Figure 4.These corrugations obviously extend lengthwise of the direction of themovement of the sheets, and said sheets are thereby stiffened so thatwhen they are projected from the pulleys 46 and 52 and from the tapes 48and 54 over the bottom of the layboy, they will not bend downwardly toany material extent and if driven at high speed they will iioat abovethe bottom and above any sheets supported thereon, until they strike thegate I1. They will then be logged into a pile by the relatively movingside walls i6 and rear wall l5, and as indicated in Figure 6 thecorrugations really provide air spaces beneath the upper sheets, so thatthis jogging action will take place freely and will not be materiallyinterfered with as is the case with at sheets which often stick togetherbecause of their frictional engagement or by reason of staticelectricity. At the same time they are gradually iiatted out by thesheets accumulating above the same, as indicated in Figure 6, so thatthey soon beco'me flat and become piled with great acuracy and withouttheir corners or front edges being bent or folded.

'Ihe amount of corrugation can be varied by vertically adjusting theupper set of pulleys 52 so as to more or less lap the lower pulleys 48.'I'hus if the sheets are extremely thin and consequently are more liableto bend, the corrugations are made deeper, while with relatively heavystock approaching cardboard, such corrugations may be much lighter.

In order that the sheets may be directed immediately to the pile and notfloat for any length of time in the upper portion of the layboy, lightwires 68 may be employed that are engaged over the rod 49, these wirespassing between the pulleys and extending at their rear ends into thelower portion of the layboy. with said ends projecting through the slots3| oi the gate.

Actual demonstration has shown that this mechanism will deliver sheetsat high speed and in close order of sequence without injuring the sheetsor causing them to ball up in the layboy. 'I'his balling up has been avery serious diillculty in the piling of the sheets, requiring thestopping of the machine, the removal and loss of sheets, making thespeed of delivery heretofore one within material limits. As high as twohundred and fifteen sheets per minute have been successfully deliveredand accurately piled with this mechanism and this speed has been varieddown to one sheet a minute. The only limit therefore which controls theoperation of the piling in the present invention appears to be thatdetermined by the mechanism which is operating on the sheets in advanceof the said piling mechanism. Furthermore the mechanism has decidedadvantages over the means heretofore in general use of simply curlingthe edges of the sheets, inasmuch as the corrugating means extendsacross the entire Width of the conveyor and consequently will operate onsheets of various sizes without the necessity of adjusting the parts.The only need for adjustment is with regard to the thickness of thestock operated upon, but this is easily done as it merely requires thevertical adjustment of the upper pulleys 52 and said pulleys areadjusted as a unit.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the construction, operation andmany advantages of the herein described invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art without further description and it will beunderstood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion and minordetails of construction may be resorted to without departing from thespirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

What I claim, is:

1. In mechanism of the character set forth, the combination with alayboy, of a conveyor for projecting sheets to the layboy, said conveyorincluding upper and lower sets of tapes between which the sheets pass,the tapes of each set being substantially parallel to each other and tothe path of the sheets, and corrugating members at the discharge end ofthe conveyor and about which the tapes pass, said members acting tocorrugate the sheets as they are discharged by the conveyor and stiffenthem as they are projected from the conveyor to the layboy.

2. In mechanism of the character set forth, the combination with alayboy, of a conveyor for delivering sheets thereto, said conveyorcomprising upper and lower sets of tapes, the tapes of each set beingsubstantially parallel to each other and to the path of the sheets,means for directing sheets between the tapes, wheels about which thetapes pass at their delivery ends, and means for supporting the wheelsto cause those of one set to alternate with and lap those of the otherset, thereby to corrugate the sheets as they pass from the. conveyor andare projected into the layboy.

3. In mechanism of the character set forth, the combination with alayboy, of a conveyor for delivering sheets thereto, said conveyorcomprising upper and lower sets of tapes, the tapes of each set beingsubstantially parallel to each other and to the path of the sheets,means for directing sheets between the tapes, Wheels about which the`tapes pass at their delivery ends, and means for supporting the wheelsto cause those of one set to alternate with and lap those of the otherset, thereby to corrugate the sheets as they pass from vthe conveyor andare projected into the layboy, said wheel supporting means beingrelatively adjustable to vary the amount of lap of the wheels.

4. In mechanism of the character set forth, the combination with alayboy comprising a bottom, relatively movable side walls, and means formoving the side walls to jog the sheets delivered between them, of aconveyor for delivering sheets thereto, said conveyor comprising upperand lower sets of tapes, the tapes of each set being substantiallyparallel to each other and to the path of the sheets, means fordirecting sheets between the tapes, wheels about which the tapes pass attheir delivery ends, and means for supporting the wheels to cause thoseof one set to alternate with and lap those of the other set, thereby tocorrugate the sheets and deliver'them to the lay-boy between the sidewalls, said walls being spaced apart sufficiently to allow the sheets toflatten after being deposited in corrugated condition in the lay-boy.

5. In mechanism of the character disclosed, the combination with a sheetreceiver, of means for delivering sheets successively thereto, saidmeans comprising upper and lower sets of tapes, those of one' set beingstaggered with respect to those of the other, staggered and lapped upperand lower rollers at the delivery ends of the tapes and about which saidtapes pass, a shaft carrying the upper rollers, a swinging framecarrying the shaft, and means by which the frame may be swung and heldin diierent positions to vary the' amount of lap of the tapes androllers. v

ALBERT BROADM'EYER.

